Back to the Victorians calendar
During the early stages of the war, a reporter from The Times wrote that he had seen many men dying of hunger and cold. It was decided to send a team of nurses to the Crimea to help. They were led by a lady called Florence Nightingale.
She had been born in Italy in 1820, the daughter of a very wealthy banker. Instead of following the path of many rich young girls which was to get married and look after a large home, Florence chose to become a nurse. Her parents were very unhappy at her choice.
When she was sent to the Crimea, Florence was 34 years old. She had met the then Minister for War, Sidney Herbert (no Herbert not Owlbut) in Italy in 1847 and they had become friends. When she arrived in the Crimea, Florence found the hospital she had been sent to was overcrowded and filthy. There were not enough beds, so men lay on the floor. They were not washed. There were no proper toilets. Drains were blocked. Rats ran everywhere. The smell was terrible. Patients ate mouldy bread and meat so tough it was like leather.
At first the doctors at the hospital didn't want Florence and her nurses but she ignored them and took charge. She worked 20 hours a day. She went to the town to buy fresh food. She started to clean the kitchens, and a French chef came to cook better meals. She paid workmen to clear the drains. Soon the hospital was cleaner, and fewer men were dying.
At night Florence walked around with a lantern, checking her patients and even writing letters home for soldiers who couldn't write. A journalist
who wrote a story about her called her 'The Lady with the Lamp'. It is said that before she arrived most of the medicines were only provided for officers and were kept in a locked cupboard. Florence was so angry that she took
a hammer and broke the lock on the cupboard and made sure all patients were given proper medicines. She actually became known as 'The Lady with the Hammer'. Again before she started working there almost 50% of all soldiers in the hospitals died. Once she had enforced her way of doing things, the number came down to less than 5%.
After the war she came home a heroine but went home to Derbyshire calling herself Miss Smith so no one would know her. However she later met Queen Victoria and, in 1860, set up the Nightingale Training School for nurses. She also wrote a book called Notes for Nursing.
However she worked so hard she made herself ill and spent most of the last 40 years of her life in bed, doing research and writing countless letters. In 1907 she was awarded the Order of Merit, becoming the first woman to receive the award. She died, in 1910, at the age of 90.
Forward to 1858AD
